


it's the only way to heal

by trouvailleamor



Series: Community: The Adventures of a Season 7 [4]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Romance, this is totally self indulgent and i don't care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 08:39:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12077532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trouvailleamor/pseuds/trouvailleamor
Summary: Jeff is having a rough time after realizing his friends are moving on without him. Annie is the only one who can make him feel better.





	it's the only way to heal

**Author's Note:**

> These characters don't belong to me :)

It’s been almost six months since Jeff last saw Annie in person. They are technically dating, but they haven’t kissed since the day they parted and they’ve never even gone on a date. Jeff was planning on a special Skype session on their six month “anniversary”, but he isn’t known for his romantic gestures. At least, not genuine ones.

He hasn’t seen much of the others lately. Troy and Abed are working on a movie and trying to get their business off the ground. Shirley is juggling moving back to Greendale, running Shirley’s Sandwiches, and trying to patch things up with Andre. Britta has been distant lately, often canceling plans on them without any explanation. Pierce has been trying to start a new business of his own, but he is being very secretive about it. That just leaves Jeff, teaching at Greendale and missing Annie.

It feels as though the original quirkiness of their group is slowly fading away. Everyone is getting so serious and is thinking about their futures. Either because he can’t or just doesn’t want to, Jeff has been avoiding this subject. He doesn’t want to think about a future where he’s still in Greendale without his friends and without Annie. 

Jeff has obviously been feeling pretty down lately. He really didn’t know what to do. It was the end of his day and as he was packing up his stuff to leave, he decided to stop quickly at Duncan’s office. He knew well enough that Duncan definitely could not help him, but he may be good for a drink.

~~~

Duncan’s door is open slightly, so Jeff pushes it slowly. He sees Britta sitting on the couch and Duncan sitting on the chair opposite of her. When Jeff spots them, he tries to vacate the room, but Britta jumps up, awkwardly nods at Duncan and Jeff, then pushes past Jeff out into the hallway. She’s gone before Jeff can even say anything. 

“Uh, what?” Jeff manages to say, but Duncan doesn’t answer.

“Winger, what can I do for you?” Duncan says, motioning for him to sit down. Jeff tentatively moves further into the room, but doesn’t sit. 

“Why was Britta here?”

“Ah, you know I can’t tell you that. You may have been a fake lawyer, but I know you’ve heard of client confidentiality. But what can I do for you?” Duncan asks.

By the time he was done talking, Jeff had forgotten why he was there.

~~~

As soon as Jeff walks through the front door of his apartment, he is hit with the overwhelming realization that he is lonely. The living room is so empty and drab, and it is so still and silent that he turns on music to numb it. 

He doesn’t like being alone, especially after enduring the last few years with his study group. He’s built up a tolerance to the madness, and now that it’s all but been taken away from him, he needs another fix. 

The first person he calls is Abed. He figured talking to the person most out of tune with reality would bring him back to his normal self immediately. Unfortunately for Jeff, he doesn’t pick up.

He dials Troy next, and he picks up after the second ring. 

“Hey Jeff. Can’t talk right now. Abed is having an epiphany,” Troy pushes him off the phone, hanging up before saying goodbye. 

Jeff exhales slowly and heads to the kitchen to pour himself a drink. Once he does, he sinks down into his sofa. It was going to be a long night.

Shirley answers the phone in her usual sweet-as-sugar voice. “Hello!”

“Hi Shirley,” Jeff says, relieved. “How are you?”

“I’m baking something,” She coos. 

Jeff furrows his brow. Shirley had been baking less lately, with the exception of Shirley’s Sandwiches. Something must be wrong…

“Andre isn’t answering my calls,” She says, still keeping the same tone. It doesn’t fool Jeff. 

“I’m so sorry Shirley, but maybe this is a sign. Maybe it’s time to move on,” Jeff offers. Immediately, he realizes that while it may be the right thing to say, it was not what she wanted to hear.

“Don’t pretend to understand how serious relationships work, Jeffery. They take work and you have to be willing to put it in. Now, I have to take my pies out of the oven,” She says, not sounding as happy as she was before. “Good night, Jeffery.”

As she hangs up the phone, Jeff pushes his head back into the cushions. Of course Shirley’s words remind him of his relationship with Annie. He wants them to work. He wants to put in the work. But sometimes, life has its own plan. He hopes that for once, it happens the way he wants it to. He isn’t really sure exactly what he wants, but he knows that if he thinks about it for too long, it will make him anxious. He also wants Annie to be happy.

Knowing that calling Pierce is a bad idea (and he probably wouldn’t even know how to answer), he dials the last person in the group: Britta. 

He still doesn’t understand what happened in Duncan’s office earlier, but he wants to find out. He dials her number and waits. She picks up after a few rings. “Hello?”

“Hey.”

“Are you okay?” She asks. Wherever she is sitting is loud, and he can barely hear her.  
“Yeah, I’m sorry. Are you busy right now?” Jeff asks. He hears a man’s voice in the background. “Are you on a date?” 

“Are you in emergent danger?” Britta asks quickly.

“No…”

“Then I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Bye,” She hangs up.

Jeff is so shocked that he didn’t take his phone away from his ear until about a minute later. _Was that voice in the background… No, it couldn’t be. Except it would make sense…_

In that moment, Jeff finally knows exactly what has been going on. Britta has been seeing Duncan. As in the Ian Duncan who has been into her for years. He doesn’t know how he feels about that. 

He knows that they really are perfect for each other. There’s no denying it. He’s not jealous, of course not, it’s just weird to see the people he was trying to set up for months come together on their own. It’s a touching feeling, more touching than he’d like to admit.

He pulls his phone out again to send a text.

_Hey Shirley, you are right. I don’t know how serious relationships work. I’m working on it. I hope things work out between you and Andre. I’ll talk to you soon.  
-Jeff Winger_

~~~

Jeff had been nodding off for the past hour and was about to give in to sleep before his phone started buzzing in his lap. He reaches for it and forgets to read the caller ID before answering it. “Hello?” He says, voice still groggy with exhaustion.

“Hi, sorry. Is this a bad time?” Annie says. When he realizes that it’s her, he immediately perks up.

“No! I can talk. What’s up?” He says, straightening up against the couch. 

“I know it’s not our usual time, but I just wanted to see what you were up to.”

“Nothing, I’m just sitting here at home,” He says, realizing how lame that sounds. “It was a long day,” He adds.

“I’m sorry. Are you sure it’s not a bad time?” She asks again.

“Of course not. I like talking to you,” He says, smiling a little while he does. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too,” She says. “It’s been too long since we’ve seen each other.”

“I’ve been thinking, maybe I can come out for a weekend sometime? I don’t want to overwhelm you if you have work,” He says. He’s more nervous for her answer than he will ever admit. 

“Jeff…” Annie starts, sounding unsure.

Jeff’s fear of rejection kicks in and he tries desperately to do some damage control. “It’s okay if you don’t think it’s a good idea. I understand.”

“No, Jeff. It’s not that…” She tries again, but Jeff can’t stop himself for rambling. He’s always afraid of wanting too much of her, and he doesn’t want to push her away.

“No, it’s alright. Just forget I said anything.” She doesn’t say anything, and a few seconds later there’s a knock at the door. “Hold on one second,” He tells her as he gets up reluctantly to answer the door.

When he does, his jaw nearly drops to the floor.

Because standing in his doorway, looking more beautiful than day he left her, is Annie Edison.

~~~

“Please say something,” Annie begs. The look on his face proves every doubt she’s had since she first packed her bags. That he doesn’t want this anymore, he doesn’t want to take the next step, he doesn’t actually want to date her. “Please.”

“I- don’t even know what to say,” Jeff says, jaw still slack.

“I’m sorry, I-“ She starts, but then his face breaks into a smile. She mirrored him immediately and he pulls her lightly inside his apartment. He quickly becomes occupied with bringing her bags in, and once they’re all stacked up against the wall, he turns back to her.

Annie doesn’t really know what to do with herself, so she just laughs. Soon enough, he’s laughing with her and he puts her into a tight hug. They stay like that for a while, like two puzzle pieces fitting perfectly, and Jeff presses a soft kiss on the top of her head. 

“Happy six months,” He whispers, so soft she almost doesn’t hear him. But of course she does. She pulls back and glances tentatively into his eyes. He looks as if he wants to move his eyes away, but he doesn’t dare. 

“Happy six months,” She replies back, then pulls his neck down so she can meet his lips. 

His hands move quickly to her waist as she keeps her hands tight around his neck. The kiss starts out tender and slow, but quickly heats up. He’s pulling her tighter against him and she’s kissing him with all the passion she’s felt for years and with all the wanting that waiting over the past six months has caused. They’ve never kissed like this; they’ve only shared innocent kisses with the exception of the one after the transfer dance, and that was already shorter than this one happening now.

She runs her hands through his hair and grips the ends. He lets out a small sound and pulls her head closer to him, holding it in his hand. His tongue slowly parts her lips and she obliges, kissing him right back. She sighs contently into his mouth. Even though she’s sad it took so long, this kiss is perfect in Annie’s eyes. Her heart is racing and she’s sure she’ll never feel this way about another person. 

Jeff moves his fingers toward her neck, never breaking away from her lips, and slips a finger under the strap of her dress. She shivers against him and reaches for the collar of his shirt. Suddenly, she feels something soft rub up against her ankle. Instincts kicking in, she squeals and breaks away from Jeff, jumping away from whatever was touching her. He laughs at her and bends down to pet it.

“Aw! So this is Sebastian!” Annie kneels down and scratches the tabby cat’s small head. He purrs and leans right into her palm. Jeff smiles at her and wraps his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. He drops a sweet kiss on her forehead and she knows that she made the right choice coming back here.

_It feels great to be home._

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know how you liked this!


End file.
